When Dreams Come True
by SouthernStateOfMind
Summary: My first ever one-shot. (can I just say how diligently I made sure I typed the word "shot"...that "i" and "o" are too damn close together) :) Paige & Emily deserve to have their dreams come true. Right? I think so...so that's what I wrote. Read on for more. Y'all, despise writing these summaries. I promise you the story is worth reading even if the summary is less than desirable.


**Well, I'm here with a one-shot. I thought it would be impossible for me to tell a story in one chapter, yet here I am, givin' it a go. I had proper inspiration…finally.**

 **I am hopeful this one-shot experiment will give me the motivation to get a little writing mojo back so I can begin my next multi-chapter fic. I've had an idea brewing for quite some time but have had absolutely zero time to write it. Perhaps with motivation I will make the time. We shall see…**

 **For now, I hope y'all enjoy this one-shot. :)**

When Dreams Come True

"Let's go somewhere," Paige said she walked hand-in-hand with Emily around the Olympic Village. Paige had promised to bring Emily over so she could see everything for herself. While Paige had elected to stay off-site with Emily, she still spent plenty of time here.

Emily looked around. She mentally tried to guess each individuals sport as they passed by. People from various nationalities walked around. Most, if not all, were wearing the colors of their home countries in various sweat suits. A group of four women walked by speaking in a language Emily had never heard before. Two boys, she thought of them as boys because they couldn't be past 16, zipped by on collapsible bicycles. Apparently quite a few teams had brought them for their athletes to better get around. The energy here was one that she'd never felt before. Who would want to go anywhere else?

Emily looked over to her wife. She bumped Paige with her shoulder playfully. "We ARE somewhere, Paige. This place is so cool! I feel like a bobble-head doll. I keep turning my head everywhere to take it all in."

Paige felt the same energy Emily was feeling but it was having a different effect on her. She felt antsy and that wasn't a feeling she was much used to having. "I know, Em. I like it too…just not today. I feel jumpy."

"Maybe we should go back to the hotel then. You need to rest anyway; your first final is tonight." Emily knew that Paige shouldn't be up walking around too terribly much today. She'd rely on every ounce of energy she has tonight to possibly win her first ever Olympic medal.

"In a little bit." Emily opened her mouth to protest before Paige stopped her by raising her hand up in a "stop" sign. "I promise to take it easy. Right now, however, there's somewhere else I need us to go."

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Thirty minutes later Paige and Emily were zipping through winding, narrow roads. Paige gave the cab driver an address that she had looked up on her phone. Emily saw a gleam in Paige's eyes that told her wherever it was they were headed to, Paige was looking forward to it.

The cab driver pulled up to a large athletic club and parked near the front door. He turned to his two guests expecting the payment noted on the meter. Paige quickly paid the man and started to open her door before he had the chance to do so for her.

Paige turned to help Emily out when she noticed that her wife had not moved from where she sat. "Em, we're here."

Emily scooted over to the open door and looked up at Paige. She shook her head and slowly got out of the small car. "Honey, you don't need to think about doing a full workout this close to your race time."

Paige smiled at Emily, giving her a brief kiss on the cheek. "I appreciate you worrying about me but that's not why we are here."

Emily looked around. The place was so large, there wasn't much else on the block surrounding them. If they weren't going to the athletic club, where were they going? "Then why are we here?"

Paige winked at Emily while she laced their fingers together, pulling Emily along. "Let me show you," she said with a big grin.

The young girl working at the reception desk smiled wide as soon as they walked up to her. Her eyes were wide in recognition and awe. "Are you Paige Fields-McCullers?" she asked excitedly.

Paige did the head dip that Emily loves so much. Paige hasn't quite gotten used to being recognized. This was always her reaction when someone got gooey over her. "Uh, yeah." Paige half-laughed uncomfortably. "That's me." Paige motioned to Emily. "And this is my wife, Emily Fields-McCullers."

The girl bounced on her toes. "It's so great to meet you both!" Her nose scrunched up in confusion for a split second. "You race tonight. In the final, right?" Paige nodded her head. "Theeeen," she dragged the word out, "why are you here?"

Emily nodded her head. She looked at the girls name tag. "That's a good question, Marí." She turned to Paige. "Why ARE we here, honey?"

Paige turned from Emily to Marí after giving Emily's hand a quick squeeze. "Is the youth swim team still practicing?"

Marí consulted the time on her phone then looked at the schedule for the natatorium. "Yes, they practice for another thirty minutes."

"Is there any chance you'd allow Emily and I to sit-in on the remainder of practice?"

Marí looked surprised to say the least. "Really? I am sure the coach would love that. I can show you the way to the natatorium if you'll follow me."

Paige and Emily followed Marí down several hallways. They could tell they were getting close when the smell of chlorine wafted their way. Paige and Emily both took a deep breath in through their noses at the same time. That smell will never get old to them.

Marí held the doors open to the natatorium as she motioned them through. "There are bleachers along the far wall." She motioned to the left of where they stood. "You can watch from there."

Paige shook the young girl's hand. "We really appreciate this."

Marí waved her off feeling bashful at the attention from a star athlete. "Good luck tonight," she said with a wide smile before she turned to walk away.

Paige and Emily sat closely on the bleachers watching the young kids at their swim team practice. Emily smoothed her hand along Paige's toned quad. "So why are we really here, Paige? Are you ok?"

Paige nodded her head slowly while looking down at her feet. "I'm ok. It's just…the pressure. There's been a lot lately. I'm used to being a competitor but this is different."

Emily lifted Paige's chin with her finger. Paige turned to look at her directly. "Yeah, this is different. Good different. You have been working towards this for a long time. It's your dream come true."

Paige held Emily's left hand in both of hers. She ran one finger along the stop of Emily's wedding band and solitaire engagement ring then brought the hand up to her lips to place a gentle kiss there. "YOU are my dream come true, Em. Marrying you, building a life and a family with you- that is my dream come true." She darted her eyes towards the pool. "This is our dream together because WE have been working towards the Olympics for a long time. Please never forget that I've only gotten to where I am because of your love and support."

Emily kissed Paige sweetly, letting her lips linger as she whispered, "I do love you so much, Paige."

"I love you too."

Two girls nearer to their side of the pool started splashing loudly in the water, horsing around while they waited for their coach to work directly with them. Paige smiled and turned to them. "They look like they are having a great time don't they." It was a rhetorical question and one that Emily knew Paige wasn't looking for confirmation on so she stayed quiet to let Paige open up to her. "That's why I needed to come here today. I wanted to remember why I'm competing in the first place. It's because I love to swim. It's a part of me. All of the hype surrounding me, all of the pressure…that's not what this is about and it's not why we've worked so hard to get here. I'm going to go out there tonight and swim my race. I'm going to give it everything I've got, and I'm going to have fun doing so."

Emily remained quiet for several minutes more. Finally, she spoke. "Do you remember when we used to goof off like that at swim practice?" She laughed. "It's a wonder we didn't get kicked off the team."

Paige laughed too. "We were the two top swimmers. Coach would have been crazy to get rid of us. That sure didn't stop the lectures we got though. I think my elbows wore a spot in both arms of the chair she used to park my ass in when I 'got a good talking to.'" She lowered her voice to mimic their coach. Then Paige quickly turned serious. "You should be competing too, you know? That's how it was supposed to be."

Emily sighed. She of all people knew that you couldn't always control if what's "supposed to be" ends up "being." She absentmindedly rubbed her right shoulder. If not for the hit-and-run that resulted in a torn rotator cuff, she very well could have been an Olympian with her wife. "I've made my peace with it, honey. It's ok."

Emily's stomach growled while the two continued to watch the remaining minutes of swim practice. "I think Tad wants food," Paige said while looking down to her wife's abdomen.

"I swear he's going to answer to Tad when he's born," Emily said, while rubbing her stomach. "I should have never let you nickname him Tadpole…or shorten it to Tad for that matter."

Paige motioned between herself and Emily. "We're swimmers." She pointed to Emily's slight bulge. "He's our kid. Tadpoles swim. In fact, he's swimming right now. Seems kinda perfect to me."

Emily just shook her head. What is there to say to that? "I thought the news correspondent was going to ask me about it during the live interview last night. She kept looking at my stomach. It's not hard to guess why. I mean, I am starting to show. We'll have to make an announcement soon you know."

Paige stood and pulled her four months pregnant wife up with her. "I know and I can't wait. But for now, let's go get Tad some food."

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Paige stood near the starting block going through her ritual stretches. She's done the same routine since high school and doubted she'd ever change it. She felt good…really good as she waited for the announcer to release the swimmers to stand on the block. When he did, Paige stood atop the starting block adjusting her goggles and taking deep breathes filling her lungs to capacity. The sounds around her disappeared. The other swimmers near her became nonexistent. All that surrounded her and all that lay before her was her lane and the end of the pool where she would make her turn.

Paige crouched into position. The voice over the speakers in the Aquatic Center announced, "Take your mark." A split second later, the buzzer went off. Paige was favored to win gold in this race. Still, when you're competing with top athletes from all over the world, anything could happen.

Paige had a great start off the block. It put her in the lead position straight away. She swam her heart out. Every stroke was precise. Every kick was strong. Her form was near perfection. In less than two minutes Paige thundered towards the wall becoming a gold medalist and joining the ranks of swimming's elite top echelon.

The camera showing the competitions for viewers at home zoomed in to catch Paige's celebration as she smiled so brightly she could have lit the room up. She shook her competitors' hands as she tried to live in this surreal moment.

Then, she looked around, her eyes scanning the stadium seats surrounding the pool. Her eyes met Emily's and immediately they started to tear up. The camera zoomed in on Emily when they found her. She had tears streaking down her cheeks. For viewers at home, they might not have been able to tell that Paige was crying as well. She still had her game face on and with the water droplets running off of her swim cap and onto her face, you'd never know she had tears running down her cheeks. Emily knew. Their emotions in that moment were shared. They were ones of pride, excitement, relief...and as they looked at one-another- immense, profound love.

They both mouthed "I love you" at the same time, capturing the moment for the world to witness.

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Paige dressed in her Team USA sweat suit and readied herself for the medal ceremony. She had just enough time to dress, dry and style her hair somewhat and rush to the waiting area for the announcement.

When the announcer called her name to the top of the medals podium, Paige took a step up onto the platform to the sounds of cheers echoing through the Aquatic Center. She wasn't sure if it had to do with the race or with the weight of this moment but her legs were nearly shaking.

The silver and bronze medalists were presented with their medals by IOC representatives then it was Paige's turn. She shook the woman's hand and bent over at the waist so the medal could be placed around her neck. It was heavier than she thought it'd be…I mean who knows what to expect when what is essentially a round, metal disk is hanging from your neck that weighs over a pound? It caused her to lose her balance and do a very slight stutter-step. Up in the stands, Emily chuckled. No one else would have noticed but she did. She knows every inch of Paige's body, intimately, and knows every way in which it moves. She saw the stutter-step clearly and knew Paige was probably laughing at herself at the moment.

When the national anthem began, Paige proudly placed her right hand over her heart and sang. This was a moment in her life she knew she would never…no, could never, forget.

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Later, after the media circuit, Paige and Emily were caught walking hand-in-hand along a corridor of the Aquatic Center by a reporter. He asked very politely if they wouldn't mind taking a few moments for an interview. They easily agreed.

He started, "Paige, congratulations on winning your race tonight. It was amazing to watch. How did it feel going into the race as the favorite to win gold?"

Paige looked directly at the reporter as she answered. "I won't lie. I did feel the pressure going into tonight. As a professional athlete you have to find ways to deal with that. Luckily I have Emily," she smiled at her wife then turned back to the reporter. "She keeps me grounded and helps me remember why I love to swim in the first place."

The reporter then turned his attention to Emily. "I don't know if you've heard that the cameras caught a very sweet, candid moment between you and Paige after the race. It was the 'I love you' heard but not heard around the world."

Emily smiled. "I didn't know at the time but I do now. My mom back in the States texted me a video of it. She's just learned how to insert emojis into texts so it had the smiley face with heart eyes and the one with the tear down its face. So yeah…I heard." They all laughed together. "I'm ok with the world seeing our moment. I do love Paige and I am so proud of her."

The reporter turned back to Paige. "What was it like knowing that you had Emily here up in the stands cheering for you?"

"Well, Emily and I have always been each other's biggest cheerleaders. It means a lot knowing that Emily and the Tadpole were here with me tonight."

"The Tadpole?" the reporter asked in confusion.

Emily and Paige glanced at each other after Paige's slip. Emily nodded her head that it was ok. Paige smiled brightly into the camera. "I've nicknamed our son 'the Tadpole' much to Emily's chagrin. He'll be making his appearance in about six months."

The reporter looked back and forth between Paige and Emily in shock. Emily put her arm around Paige's waist to draw her closer. She kissed her proud wife on the cheek. "Paige and I are very happy to announce that I am four months pregnant with a baby boy. He's a dream come true."

"Congratulations to you both," the reporter enthusiastically said to Paige and Emily. The two women said their thanks as the camera operator focused back on the reporter. "There you have it folks...reporting from the 2016 Olympics, where dreams of every nature really do come true."

 **A/N: Yep, I wrote a Paily Olympic story. I had two doses of inspiration.**

 **One, (spoiler alert to follow y'all) I saw the clip of Paige telling Emily that she'd been injured and therefore could not fulfill her Olympic dream. I'm not lettin' Paige go down like that…or Paily for that matter. Nope. I figured why not write a story to rectify that? So I did.**

 **Second, someone I am personally very proud of, as much for her accomplishments in the pool as for who she has always been out of the pool, won two gold medals and posted an OR in her first Olympic games. Actually, her first gold was three weeks ago today. This was my initial source of inspiration for the story. I'm not sure how my mind put that together with a Paily story but it did so here we are.**

 **Once I saw the PLL clip I knew for sure I'd be writing something like this. I hope you've enjoyed it. Perhaps I'll be back soon with my multi-chapter fic. Until then then y'all…**


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